NetQuarterLatte OP t1_jb1l5p8 wrote on March 5, 2023 at 7:03 PM

Reply to comment by jvspino in Woman Followed Into Manhattan Building, Dragged Out of Elevator in Late-Night Rape: Cops by NetQuarterLatte

I think the devils are in the details.

But the overall change in the conviction rates are undeniable.

My layman understanding is that the messier the case is, more pieces of potential exculpatory evidence is created, and it’s more chances for the prosecution to violate the discovery requirements and benefit the defense (even the evidence in question turns out to be innocuous).

https://www.city-journal.org/new-york-discovery-reform-is-crushing-prosecutors gives an example of an hypothetical bar brawl.

And then we also had this bad cop case that was dropped because of the discovery requirements: https://nypost.com/2023/01/31/manhattan-da-abruptly-drops-case-against-crooked-cop-joseph-franco/

jvspino t1_jb1qi2b wrote on March 5, 2023 at 7:40 PM

I don't disagree with you entirely, but, as always, correlation is not causation. The pandemic resulted in high police mortality and lots of cities have been having trouble staffing departments, which probably contribute. I'm sure these reforms are having a negative impact on conviction rates, but we also can't assume that's necessarily a bad thing. Yes, there are high profile cases where someone clearly guilty gets off, but I'm sure there's less attention when someone innocent gets off too. As I mentioned above, several read like they were created to combat bad police work. I'm sure they create a higher bar for cases, but more work isn't an excuse to accept poor or dishonest policing and prosecution. I live in the city and am concerned about being a victim of crime, but being a victim of a corrupt justice system isn't something we should take lightly. Just my thoughts though.

LikesBallsDeep t1_jb1w1ax wrote on March 5, 2023 at 8:19 PM

Only reason covid killed a lot of cops is they were always the worst maskers around.

theuncleiroh t1_jb2dj6a wrote on March 5, 2023 at 10:21 PM

City Journal is a conservative ideological think-tank. Not exactly offering good evidence for your case here. All 7 of those are completely rational and fair. It's necessary to give the defense some defense (lol), since the system is already materially and structurally in favor of prosecution; the point is to reach a place of balance and equality, not to preserve the status quo and call it fair.